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The Adventures of Eowyn and Arwen

The ending of Lord of the Rings wasn’t the end of the character’s adventures- certainly not when you can pretend to be your favorite character and devise your own stories. In which Eowyn and Arwen- as played by two eight year old girls- rescue their husbands from Cirith Ungol.

Eowyn and Arwen met on a warm and sunny Saturday in a little playground. Of course they did not use those names when they introduced themselves; rather they used the names their parents had given them, which were Jenny and Maggie.

Jenny was moving in a slow dance in an isolated corner of the playground behind a rusted carousel, letting the wind blow out her dark brown hair. She knew Aragorn was close, she would see him soon, and so slowed to a walk. She took a deep breath and moved further behind the carousel- only to come face to face with a girl who had her hands raised as though to strike something.

Both girls stared at each other for a moment. Then Jenny raised a hand. “Hi.”

The other girl dropped her hands quickly. “Hi.”

They were both quiet for a moment. Finally Jenny broke the silence. “What are you doing?”

“Pretending.”

“Really? I was too.”

They both looked at the ground a minute, then back at each other. “What were you pretending?” they both asked at the same time.”

Jenny quickly cleared her throat. “Arwen. A princess.”

“From The Lord of the Rings?” the other girl asked curiously.

“Yes. Why?”

“I’ve read those books! I was being Eowyn.” She looked nothing like Eowyn, being slightly shorter than Jenny herself, and having short brownish-blond hair.

“Really? What’s your name?”

“Maggie. And I’m eight years old. What’s your name?”

“Jenny. And I’m eight too.”

Another awkward silence fell. At last Maggie broke it. “Why do you like Arwen?”

“She’s with Aragorn. And she stays with him, and she dies to stay with him. Why do you like Eowyn?”

“She killed the Nazgul.”

Jenny nodded. “I bet Arwen could have done that too,” she said thoughtfully.

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably. But they were dead when Arwen came.”

“What if they weren’t?”

Maggie regarded Jenny seriously. “But they were. They all got burned up when Sauron died.”

“But what if they didn’t? What if they were alive and captured Aragorn and Faramir?”

“But that didn’t happen?”

“We could pretend it did,” Jenny said patiently.

Maggie thought about that for a moment. “Okay. So where did they go?”

“Well, Eowyn and Arwen have to tell each other first.”

“All right.” Maggie dashed some distance away and sprinted up to Jenny. “Arwen! The Ringwraiths are alive! And they took Faramir!”

“They took Aragorn too! And we have to after them and save them!”

“Okay! I know how to ride horses so we’ll get there quick!”

“So do I! Let’s go!” Together they ran under a nearby slide and dashed back out once they had spent the time required to saddle two horses (a few seconds of arms raised over imaginary animals). Then they ran out into the sunlight and began dashing around the play structure for a few seconds- enough time to cover many miles.

After they had ridden, Maggie pulled away and crept up to the deserted swing-set. “They went through here,” she whispered. “We have to go inside the tunnel.”

“All right. My necklace can give light, so we can see. Eowyn, do you have your sword?”

Maggie darted off to grab a thin dark stick. “Right here. You need one too. Don’t you have one?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Hold onto the light and don’t let it go out!” Arwen thrust a smooth white pebble into Eowyn’s hands and dashed off to arm herself in a similar manner to her companion.

As soon as they were armed and ready, they crept under the arches of the swing-set. The shrieks of young children on the far side of the playground made them both halt and draw close to each other. “You heard that?” Arwen whispered. “It’s the Nazgul.”

“I know,” Eowyn whispered back. “They’re torturing Aragorn and Faramir, we have to help them!”

She darted forward and Arwen grabbed her arm. “Wait! What about Shelob?”

Arwen spun and held her pendant up high above her head, defying the monstrous spider that had crept up on them and willing the light to shine as brightly as possible in the dark. For what seemed endless ages they remained there waiting. At last Eowyn gave a sigh of relief. “She’s going back! She’s going away! You did it!”

“Come on!” Arwen grabbed her sword, which she had dropped in the battle with Shelob. Together she and Eowyn raced forward, dodging the heavy swings as though they were dangerous cobwebs and emerged to an open space of ground.

“We have to cross the courtyard and go up to the tower. That’s where they’re keeping them,” Eowyn whispered. “And I have to hide the light or someone might see us.”

They moved forward across the foul courtyard, weapons at the ready. But there was no one to be seen and nothing to be heard save for the cries from the top of the tower. They made it to the play structure and raced up the black stairs, taking care not to slip and plunge down the open space that marked the courtyard below. At last they made it to the top and halted just outside the landing. Eowyn leaned forward to listen.

“There’s four Nazgul,” she whispered. “And they don’t like the light, so hold up the necklace and when they scream, kill them and get Aragorn! I’ll get Faramir and then we have to run!”

“Yes, or the whole building will fall!” Arwen declared with the air of someone who’d had a brilliant idea. “And we have to be quick, I can feel it shaking! Now!”

They burst into the room and the Nazgul all raised their swords. Though the full force of their evil will was bent upon them, neither Eowyn or Arwen were daunted. Eowyn raised her sword and leapt forward as Arwen raised her light and called out to Elbereth in a powerful voice. The light from the stone blazed and the Nazgul fell back as though blinded.

Arwen ran forward to the corner where Aragorn lay chained and she quickly turned to keep between him and the two Nazgul who had turned towards him. Once she had him safe, she raised her sword and smote down the Ringwraiths, who had begun to close in.

Eowyn swept her sword pack and plunged it into the face of one of the Nazgul, who screamed as he fell. She ran forward just as the remaining Ringwraith prepared to kill Faramir and struck him down barely in time. He fell with a high pitched cry and she quickly jumped over him to free Faramir. Then she turned to Arwen. “Quick, we have to get out! Back to the tunnel!”

They grabbed their husbands’ hands and ran for their lives as the Tower of Cirith Ungol began to collapse all around them. As they fled across the courtyard, great stones were falling past their heads and just behind them, making it a miracle they escaped alive. But even outside the tower they were not safe. The swings- the deadly cobwebs- were occupied and swinging swiftly back and forth. There could be no escape that way.

Arwen looked around. “Quick! We can climb up the mountain and get out!”

“And then the Eagles will help us!”

They ran for the high ridge and began the arduous climb. It was difficult and dangerous, especially after the battle with the Nazgul, and many times they had to save each other from plunging off a treacherous ledge. Many times they thought they were lost, but at last they reached to the top of the mountain on the edge of the playground. There the eagles consented to bear them back to Gondor, where Aragorn and Faramir were taken to the Houses of Healing to rest and recover.

After some days, though they seemed only a few minutes, Eowyn joined Arwen on the tiny playground ledge that now served as the wall of Gondor. “Now that we saved Aragorn and Faramir- what if there were ghosts? And Eowyn and Arwen had to send them away?” she asked.

I thought I had commented, but it seems to have vanished! Here from “Mark Reads”.

This was completely adorable, and sounds just like the sort of “pretend” I would have done at eight if I had been fortunate enough to have read LotR by then (alas, I did not have that privilege until I was 15). But you need a hobbit. Perhaps they can meet up with Rosie Cotton, who’s gone in search of her Sam…

Gah, sorry! It went to my spam for some bizarre reason. But thanks so much for checking it out! I had a lot of fun writing it- I used to do pretend games like this with some of my friends when I was little (though it wasn’t LOTR since I was the only one who’d read that).

Oooh, adding Rosie! This I like! I wonder if I should make this an ongoing series now…